Safety coupler



June 24, 1930. R. H. WORCESTER 1,765,959

7 SAFETY COUPLER Filed March 1, 1927 f If I awaken tot Patented June 24, 1939 earner 7 SAFETY conrnnn A nc tio riled March 1, 1927. "Serial No. 171,887.

This invention relates tolimp roveinents Kin couplings and 1s partlcularly directed to a safety'couphng lnserted m a line of vpower shafting as driving connector-rbreakable ''un'der undue load to render theishaft '1nop-' I morev fully setiorth in the-description of the erative for-conveying power! I Inthe operation of heavyunachinery, as

grinding 'mills and thelike 'it frequently occursthat strains loads arethrownupon I 10 the machinery beyond its capacity, and therefore to avoid injury the driving shaft is made in sectionsand the sectionsrotatively connected together bycouplings breakable under overload. The breaking of the cou- 15 pling disjoints the power shaft and I the power is thus cut'ofi' to the machine and no damage thereto can result; The difiicultyis however', that as the shaft (onnectorparts moving at great velocity, are

20 shattered and the shafting sections dismounted the loosened parts are apt to be thrown about, creating a considerable hazard. i

' It'is therefore an object ofthis invention under overload thereby disconnecting the shafting sections as to rotation but in which mally rotatively bound together by minorinexpensive parts to connect the shafting as a unit, but held journaled or-nested upon eachjother so as to be rotatableirrelatively afterjtheminor parts "have been broken as a result of undue load created in-the mechanisin operatedthereby. Y if Stillanother object is to provide a safety 'coupler' of this nature in; which the parts adapted to'be broken by overload are in'expensive and easily replaced withoutdown the line ofshaiting and 1n wh ch the to provide a safety device as a shaft coupler 1n which certain mlnor parts Wlll break principal coupler parts Further objects and advantagesiwilh be accompanying drawings ,forminga part ,Joi th1sspec1ficat1on, in which: Figure 1 1s a View of a portionof a line of shafting showing the improved safety coupler oining sections of shafting together.

FigureQ is a sectional view taken on line 2&2; Figure 1, detailing the mounting of the coupler parts and showing the means v are suitably ribbed and strengthened so as to give durability to r a coupler functioning under great driving T strains."

by Whichithese parts of the coupler are roparts in theirvjournaled relation after'severance of the driving connection. a F1gure*3:1s a, sectional viewtaken on llne Referring to Figure 1 oiithe drawings, the mproved coupler is indicated generally as at 1; A power shaftvis shown'and comcoupler to form a normally unitariiy rotatable driving shaft. The particular mechanism being driven and the power unit mounted-rat the respective ends of thepower fil shaft are not shown since this type .ofcou- I pler has application to any powershaft. The

prisesfsections 2-2 which are joined'by the coupler is romposed oi the flanged compan- I 7 ion members 3 ande, V and secured to'the ends of the shaft sections "whichthey.rotativelyconnect, as an assent bled ;oouplor.l Fasteningof the coupler parts to the shattsection may be accon1- r plished in various ways, asby makingtheni adrive fit on'the shaft ends,{ byjshrinking 7 them thereon, or by a pair of spacer-[collars (not shown) secured to the shaft sections 'at each side of the couplerg The particular shaft shown herein is squared but it is readil l 1 1y seen that theshaft may as rectan'gularfor round. a

' The'companion coupler having central-bores 1 V be of anyshapjey parts and tfare "f 'journaled one-upon ,thelother for rotation a irrelatively. -Part 'fil has a c rcular hub 51 10;

'6 'tatably joined together so as to'be broken apart under; heavy or undue load, and also .showlng the means oi ,malntaln'ing these i screws 13 are engaged through the walls of V the part 4 adjacent the depression therein extending out from one side of a circular flange 6, and correspondingly, a depres sion 7 c is formedin the opposing slde of the part 4,

the circular hub 5' beingadapted to fit snugly within this depression. The part 4 has a flange 8 forme'dat its inner end corresponding in dimension to the flange 6 of the companion. coupler part 3 soas to. fit

uniformly thereagainst. is thustelescopically engaged or nested into the companion'part 4 so that the :coupler partsare: journaledfor rotation upon each other. v tended to rotate as a unitand it is only .1 under abnormal conditions that r 'tive' rotation takes place.

' In order thatthe coupler parts 3 V "may be held together against longitudinal displacement relative to each other andflin as Normally, however, they are in this irrela The outer ends of the are held-together. by means-of a seriesof bolts 11 spaced-"around and traversing the These bolts, broadly speaking, are the 1 only driving connection between the are rotatable independent of each other.

axial-alignment, in the event 'of'the break- -age of the bolts 11, means for maintaining this relation is provided independent of the 7 bolts 11. A. continuous annulargroove12 is provided in the periphery of the circular hub 5,. A plurality of radially disposed Thecoupler part 3 I V coupler members 'and''are respectivelyprovided withthe square ribbed hubs?) and 10. The flanges T6 and;8 of theresp ective coupler elements and 4 at the corners of each of the squared hubs to I thicken and strengthen the coupler parts at these points of strain.

Having described my invention, I claim:'

A device of the class described, comprising, a sectional driving shaft, companion coupler members each having a central bore for insertion of and rotative connection to the adjoining ends of the shaft sections, adonnngperipheral flanges iormed on sald coupler members, a series of fastening ele. ments traversing sald flanges and rotatably binding the coupler members together, said fastening elementsweakened alongthe line of the adjoining faces of theflanges, one of said couplermembers having a bearingpor- 4 tion extending into the second, Ournalhng .1 the members together for relative rotation,

said bearingimember having an annular groove therein and radially disposed screws in the second member enterlng said groove,

thereby preventing longitudinal displace-Y ment of the members in the event of breakage of the rotativeconnectionbetween the 'members. 7

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name. r

RICHARD WORCESTER; i

and the point of these screws engage into the I -gito0ve '12. This relation of the screws to the, groove allows independent rotation of the coupler parts'but prevents separation longitudinally. i

As the bolts ll'are broken off, due toithe strainsof driving ail-overloaded mechanism,

the power stops between the coupler parts. 7

One part rotates idly upon the other andthe 1 V v normally driven side of the unit is dormant.

their axially aligned;telescopic relation. 

